Jehbreal Muhammad Jackson, Dancer
From a very young age Jehbreal has dreamed of a life in arts and entertainment. Being put onstage at the age of five to sing and dance at local, community, and church functions enabled Jehbreal to become comfortable with performing fairly quickly. All of his life Jehbreal has been torn between studying dance and studying voice. At ten years old he began his formal training in ballet. He continued to study dance at the Dallas Black Dance Academy, W. E. Greiner Middle school of the Exploratory and Performing Arts, and at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. With supplemental training during the summer at schools such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Summer Intensive, Ron K. Brown/Evidence summer workshop, Nashville Ballet Summer intensive and The Movement Invention Project founded by Alexandra Wells where he worked with such artists as Jill Johnson (former dancer with Ballet Frankfurt) . Jehbreal is currently a senior at The Juilliard School in New York, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, where he has performed the works of Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins, and Ohad Naharin. In 2009 he was selected to perform with Juilliard on their European tour as well as teaching for various outreach projects including Project Maru-A-Pula in Gabarone, Botswana. Most recently Jehbreal performed as a guest with Ballet Noir NYC dancing along with performers from American Ballet Theater, and Polish National Ballet in Kielce, Poland for their Chopin Festival. In October he performed with New York based dance company Kegwin& Co. at the anual “Fall For D
Ernesto Breton, Dancer
Hailing from New York City, Ernesto began his formal training at LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, better known as the "Fame" School, at the age of fourteen. Ernesto has had the privilege of performing José Limón's Missa Brevis and new choreographic works by Andrea Miller and Raewyn Hill. Ernesto is currently in his second year of studies at The Juilliard School.
Hassan Ingraham, Dancer
Born in the heart of Miami, Florida, Hassan started his formal training at the New World School of the Arts under the artistic direction of Daniel Lewis. Wanting to pursue a career in dance, he joined the Miami Conservatory, established by the late Thomas Armour, and United Dancers of Miami, created by Shannon Haynes, in order to enhance and expand his training. He has worked with prominent artists such as, Troy Powell, Judith Jamison, Peter London, Uri Sans, Robert Battle, Larry Keigwin, and most recent Stijn Celis. He participated in the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive in 2006 where he had the honor of performing Divining, a masterwork produced by Judith Jamison. In 2007 he was awarded the opportunity to perform at the grand opening of the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts (later renamed as the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County). Today, Ingraham is in his final year at The Juilliard School where he will obtain his Bachelor degree in the Fine Arts in 2011.
Jeremie Harris, Actor
Jeremie is a native New Yorker who attended NYU before coming to Juilliard. He began acting because of a love for storytelling, collaboration, and the power theater has to bring diverse groups together. Some of his favorite roles at Juilliard include, Sorin in "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov, Norbert in "Blue Window" by Craig Lucas, and Eddie Fuseli in "Golden Boy" by Clifford Odets. This year Jeremie is entering his third year of training and is extremely excited about performing in two Shakespeare plays in Repertory in the spring of 2011. In addition to acting Jeremie is deeply interested in community development, and has taught children and helped rebuild houses in New Orleans with the Juilliard ARTreach program and is a Gluck Community Service Fellow who performs at hospitals, nursing homes, and other redevelopment institutions.
Kerry Warren, Actress
Kerry, from Juilliard Drama’s Group 42, is excited to return to Botswana and join the new team of Project Map. In Botswana she performed a Shakespeare piece with her colleagues in the production Tapestry. She also co-directed the students and community members of Maru-A-Pula for the drama portion of the event and taught poetry and acting throughout the school day. She has a strong interest in Arts Reach and was named Treasurer to the Black Student's Union in its inaugural year. This summer she also assistant directed Macbeth with Insurgo, a nonprofit theatre company, in her hometown Las Vegas before returning early to New York to be an Orientation Leader for the incoming Juilliard students. Her performances of 2010 include Medea from Pecong by Steve Carter and Melissa from Less Than Human Club by Timothy Mason. Outside of Drama Division she performed a political speech at Juiliard's Martin Luther King Celebration; the production for V-day from the Vagina Monologues ran by students who fight against woman brutality; and the Gala event celebrating President Polisi where she portrayed Laura from Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. Kerry is now in her 2nd year of training for her Bachelor's in Drama and has recently finished her role as Viola in the Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night and Rust in Landford Wilson's Balm In Gilead directed by Becky Guy. She is excited to work on a collaborative piece with her colleagues using the works of Federico Lorca directed by a Juilliard Alumni Jesse Perez. She will be ending the year with Chekhov projects as well as continuing her service work through the Black Student Union as Vice President and Arts Reach.
Kris Bowers, Musician
Kris, a native of Los Angeles, began studying piano privately at the age of nine. Beginning his formal lessons in classical music, Bowers found it hard to concentrate on just one genre as he was surrounded by the sounds of old school R&B and Funk at home, and the Hip Hop and Pop of his generation. Immersed in this musically diverse world, Bowers soon found himself attracted to the rhythmic and soulful feeling of Jazz. He then enrolled in both classical and jazz classes at the Colburn School for Performing Arts, where he remained until the end of high school. During this time however, he was sure to satisfy his musical taste buds by forming a funk band with some of his classmates called, Skitzogenic Motha. While at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), Bowers received numerous awards, accreditations and scholarships. In 2006, he graduated from LACHSA and moved to New York to continue his studies at the Juilliard School. Since his arrival in New York, Bowers has shared the stage and/or recorded with jazz artists such as: Terell Stafford, Mulgrew Miller, Terence Blanchard, Branford Marsalis, Clarence Penn, Ron Blake, Rodney Jones, Steve Turre and Bobby Watson. In addition, he has continued working in a number of other genres, performing, touring and/or recording with: Murs, Choklate, Gregory Porter, Bilal Salaam, and Eric Roberson. Bowers has also had the good fortune to perform for notable individuals like Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and President Barack Obama. Most recently, Bowers received his Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School where he has studied privately with Eric Reed, Fred Hersch, Frank Kimbrough, and Kenny Barron. He has returned to Juilliard to earn his Masters degree in Jazz Performance, with a focus on film composition.
LeBaron I. McClary, Coordinator & Founder ProjectMAP
LeBaron Isaac McClary, native of New York, began dancing at of 5. After attending the Alvin Ailey First Steps program, Mr. McClary trained privately with Darrell Chase for several years before attending Broadway Academy of the Arts and Academics and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. While attending LaGuardia, Mr. McClary had the honor of dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company. During his senior year at LaGuardia, Mr. McClary was an ARTs week finalist and graduating with several leadership scholarships. Soon after, Mr. McClary was accepted into The Juilliard School, where he had the honor of dancing in work by Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, Ohad Naharin, William Forsythe, Johannes Weiland, Aszure Barton and many other choreographers.
Additionally, while at The Juilliard School, Mr. McClary explored, what would soon become, another passion, community service and outreach work. Beginning in his first year at Juilliard, Mr. McClary participated in several school organizations such as ARTreach, Multicultural Youth Artist Network (M.Y.A.N) and the Residence Hall Community Counsel and later founding Juilliard’s first Black Student Union. As well as participating in multiple school organizations, Mr. McClary also volunteered on many out-of-school community service and arts residency projects like the New Orleans Project (2009-2010), Project Philippines(2010) and co-founding Project MAP 2010. Upon graduating from Juilliard, Mr. McClary moved to Torino, Italy to dance with Balletto Teatro di Torino. Missing his work with children and community development, Mr. McClary returned to the United States to continue serving and helping those in need. Mr. McClary looks forward to continuing his career as dancer and activist and firmly believes that as artist and citizens we are obligated to help and serve others. Botswana 2011!!!
Darryl Quinton, Advisor
Darryl has been a Juilliard faculty member since
Candace Feldman, Advisor & Founder ProjectMAP
Daughter of a Zimbabwean Father and Hawaiian mother, Candace received her B.S. in Theater with her emphasis on Directing from Kansas State University. While at KSU she minored in Leadership Studies, American Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies. At the age of 23, Candace was awarded the Society of Stage Director’s and Choreographers Fellowship for her direction on The Last Black Play, ACTF-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Invitation and the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion Award for Excellence in Theatre. That same year she was awarded the Joey-Lee Garman Award for Social Justice. Since then Candace has been working diligently to promote social justice through the arts. Candace has directed The Meeting, The Author’s Voice, Labor Love and Laughter and many original scripts. She Associate Produced Eti! E ast Africa Speaks in NYC, where 11 artists from East Africa performed their original works. She currently works for 651 ARTS: a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the African Diaspora as the Educational Outreach Director and The Juilliard School as the Willson Theater House Manager. She continues to promote and support artist and activists by producing reading series for playwrights based in Brooklyn and hosts Sisterhood Tea Parties for women activists. She continues to stay closely connected to Sundance East Africa and Theater Without Borders. Candace is thrilled to be back in Botswana and back to a place she calls home. She is looking forward to the rare and blessed opportunity to interact with the young and talented minds at Maru-a-Pula, but also to be reunited with her family in Gaborone! See you soon Dee and David!
